We have three control centers that help us navigate through life:
1
.
Gut – behavior:
Emotional impulses, reflexes, instinct
2
.
Head – thinking
: Intellect, rationality, causality, and functionality
3
.
Heart
–
feeling
:
Mindfulness,
conscious
feeling,
intuition,
good
connection
between
gut
and
head
through the heart.
Of
course,
our
behavior
is
always
based
on
a
mixture
of
impulsivity,
cognition,
and
emotion.
The
question
is,
however,
which
center
we
mainly
act
from.
Are
we
more
of
a
gut
person,
a
head
person,
or
a
heart
person?
Gut-head-heart in human development
In
addition,
we
could
also
look
at
the
cultural
level
model
of
NVC-plus,
which
allows
us
to
recognize
the
primacy
of
either
the
gut,
the
head,
or
the
heart
not
only
in
individuals
but
also
in
entire
societies.
(Gut
=
cultural
level
of
dominance,
head
=
cultural
level
of
functionality,
heart
=
cultural
level
of
care).
In
our
current,
primarily
functionally
oriented
society
(where
the
head
aspect
reigns
supreme),
our
impulsive
vitality
(gut/belly)
is
tamed
by
a
corset
of
rational
rules
and
laws,
and
our
feelings
have
a
hard
time
having
a meaningful impact on events. That is why they quickly appear “irrational.”
At
the
beginning
and
during
the
heyday
of
functional
culture,
people
learn
not
only
to
live
instinctively
and
impulsively
(gut
dominance).
They
learn
to
understand
their
environment
better
and
better.
The
brain,
language,
social
order,
and
the
entire
cultural
environment
undergo
significant
changes
in
the
process.
This
allows
technology,
science,
and
functionally
coordinated
coexistence
to
flourish,
which
is
the
basis
for
larger
societies.
But
without
emotional
intelligence
based
on
feelings,
there
is
no
real
interactive
intelligence.
Gut-head-heart in our present
We
humans
are
currently
more
likely
to
be
described
as
nice
than
loving,
and
when
it
comes
to
the
development
of
our
hearts,
we
are
still
treading
on
thin
ice.
Above
all,
this
means
one
thing:
we
have
not
yet really found ourselves as human beings and more or less pass each other by.
The
usefulness
of
our
social
systems
and
projects
is
also
questionable;
their
organic
integration
into
nature
and
the
environment
is,
at
the
very
least,
in
need
of
improvement.
With
more
and
more
rules,
laws,
and
regulations,
an
administrative
apparatus
is
growing
that,
once
it
reaches
a
certain
size,
hardly
offers
any
organizational
solutions
anymore.
Instead,
it
is
increasingly
becoming
a
problem
in
itself
and
is
slowing
down
cooperation.
Society
is
in
a
crisis
that
can
no
longer
be
solved
on
this
cultural
level
(head,
functionality, causal understanding).
Gut-head-heart in teams
Only
when
our
collective
thoughts
and
actions
are
connected
and
guided
by
our
warmth
can
we
begin
to
find
peace
that
we
can
trust,
embedded
in
individual
and
collective
integrity.
Sooner
or
later,
functional
cultures
of
coexistence
prove
to
be
a
dead
end
after
a
period
of
prosperity,
and
we
need
to
take
the
leap
to
the
next
level,
to
the
cultural
level
of
caring.
Otherwise,
growth
will
inevitably
lead
to
decline.
(Look
also
for: John Calhoun's mouse utopia experiment (On our YouTube channel in German).
If
we
want
to
delve
a
little
deeper
and
better
understand
the
dynamics
between
our
three
control
centers—the
gut,
head,
and
heart—then
we
can
experiment
with
the
heart-head-gut
process
(by
the
author).
With
this
process,
we
discover
that
there
is
both
a
life-affirming,
integrative
sequence
of
the
three
centers—heart,
head,
and
gut—and
one
that
tends
to
push
us
to
the
sidelines.
(More
information
is
available on request under the keyword “heart-head-gut process.”)
The
lively
togetherness
that
we
strive
for
with
NVC-plus
requires
the
interaction
of
heart,
head,
and
gut.
Without
the
gut,
we
lack
impulsive
life
forces.
Without
the
head,
we
lack
overview
and
smart
routines.
Without
the
heart,
we
miss
the
life-serving
connectedness,
as
well
as
the
meaning
and
sense
of
the
significance of everything that surrounds us.